ATHENS, Ga. --- Georgia Lady Bulldogs Shacobia Barbee and Tiaria Griffin have accepted invitations to attend USA Basketball's U19 World Championship Team trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., on May 16-19. Barbee and Griffin will be among 34 players born on or after Jan. 1, 1994, who will be competing for 12 roster spots.

The selected team will attempt to win a fifth-consecutive gold medal for the United States at the FIBA U19 World Championships. The 2013 tournament will be hosted by Lithuania from July 18-28 in Klaipeda and Panevė?ys. The USA team will regroup for training on July 1 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) on Colorado Springs prior to traveling to Europe for the competition.

"I think this is an outstanding opportunity for them and a compliment to the way that they performed this season," head coach Andy Landers said. "This should be a very positive experience for them and I'm confident they'll each represent Georgia Basketball very well."

Barbee and Griffin were starters for Georgia as freshmen during the 2012-13 campaign, making the Lady Bulldogs the only team in the nation to reach the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA Tournament with two freshmen in their starting five. Georgia eventually advanced to the "Elite Eight," finished the season with a 28-7 record and ranked No. 10 in the nation.

Barbee, a 5-10, guard/forward from Murfreesboro, Tenn., was named to the All-Spokane Regional team of the NCAA Tournament and also was tabbed to the SEC's All-Defensive and All-Freshman teams. She averaged 7.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game overall and upped those contributions to 11.3 ppg and 8.3 rpg in six SEC and NCAA Tournament contests. Barbee led the Lady Bulldogs in steals with 87, the third-most ever by a Georgia freshman.

Griffin, a 5-7, guard from Monticello, Miss., started 17 games for Georgia, including each of the last 10 outings of the season. She averaged 7.3 points per game and connected on a team-high 46 3-point field goal attempts. Griffin scored in double figures 10 times, four of those coming in games against ranked opponents. She scored 13 points, including 10 in the second half, in the Lady Bulldogs' upset of No. 4 Stanford in the "Sweet 16."

Georgia Lady Bulldogs have a lengthy and storied history representing USA Basketball. All told, 25 Lady Bulldogs have represented USA Basketball in more than 40 international competitions worldwide. Most notably, Teresa Edwards is the only player – male or female – to participate in five Olympic Games and captured four gold medals. Katrina McClain represented the USA in three Olympics and won gold medals in 1988 and 1996. Edwards and McClain were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and 2012, respectively.